


loveless butler

by GusKinney



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler, Loveless
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-04-30
Packaged: 2018-03-15 13:01:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3448124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GusKinney/pseuds/GusKinney





	1. back in time

Chapter 1

Why can't I sleep? After a few more moments of lying there with my face buried in the pillow, I stole a glance at the clock. Seconds ticked by, marking the passage of time with each twitch of its hand. How many more nights am I supposed to spend like this? Cold air wrapped around me when I left the warm embrace of my blankets and padded over to the window. Moonlight drifted in through the window as I pulled back the thick curtain to peer outside. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Darkened houses surrounded me on all sides, and streetlights illuminated the empty street.

I let the curtain slip back into place and sighed. Instead of crawling back into bed, I sat at my desk and leafed through a book. I can't just sit here until morning. Even with the curtain open, there wasn't nearly enough light for me to read without straining my eyes, and I didn't want someone to happen across me sitting there with the lights on. Mom would only get mad that I wasn't in bed. I tossed the book back onto my desk and crumpled forward, resting my head on the crook of my arm.

My ears twitched slightly as a soft mechanical humming reached me. What is that? I picked my head up in time to be blinded by a bright light. Everything around me seemed to drift away, and was replaced with unfamiliar bustling streets. Horse drawn carriages made their way down the uneven cobblestones streets, sloshing through brackish puddles. Women made their way down the streets in strange, frilly dresses, and the men wore overcoats and riding boots. What's going on?

I ducked into an alley and pressed my back against the cold brick. I flattened my ears against my head as a shrill whistle pierced the air. What's going on? Did I fall asleep? Slowly backing away from the main road, I decided to try my luck in the back streets. Less people would have seen me there. Even if this was a dream, I didn't want to call attention to myself. Nobody here had their ears, even the kids! I want to go home. I don't like this.

The narrow passage way opened up after what felt like hours. Voices carried over to me, and I stopped short of stepping out into the open. A group of men had crowded around a small boy with an eye patch. He didn't flinch when one of them hoisted his up by the front of his shirt, his arrogant smile never wavering. "Leave him alone!"

The man holding the boy glanced over his shoulder and rolled his eyes, before throwing the boy onto the ground. "W'at you think you're gonna do 'bout it?"

I froze in place as they came closer. My ears flattened to my head as I managed to take a fraction of step back. There wasn't much I really could do besides keep the attention away from him. Luckily I could take a hit, but with this many guys around, I didn't know how long I would last. One of them grabbed me by the collar, while another one grabbed my legs and tossed me into a pile of abandoned crates stacked up against the wall of the building. Thin wood snapped beneath my weight, and the sharp splinters sliced through my skin until I was lying against the ground. Spots danced in front of my eyes for a few moments as I regained my bearings. Blood trickled down the side of my face as I struggled into a sitting position. The group had reformed around the boy, laughing amongst each other about how 'easy' I was. A low growl ripped through my chest as I stood, brushing fragments of wood from my hands. Every cat has claws, I guess I have to show them mine.

"I said, leave him alone!" The man standing in front of the boy toppled to the ground when I rammed him, unprepared for my sudden attack. He glared at me from his spot on the ground as I backed away from the rest of the group. The boy stood abandoned by the others, seeming more annoyed with my intrusion than relieved. Does he want this to happen?

My back brushed against a wall, and the rest of the men crowded around me in a semi-circle. A swift punch in the stomach brought me to my knees. The air was forced out of me as I doubled over, trying to focus on anything other than what was going on. My vision blinked in and out before I caught the boy approaching from in-between the legs of my attackers. Don't. "How long do you plan on waiting around, Sebastian?"

A shadow fell over me, then a man dressed in black landed on the ground in front of me. He dropped to one knee in front of the boy. "My apologies, young master."

The men crowded around me slowly fell away, taken out in a few barely visible movements from the boy's butler. Seimei's going to flip when he finds out. I weakly rose to my feet and leaned against the wall for support. Using the tattered sleeve on my shirt, I wiped some blood out of my eyes, and kept a watchful eye on the boy in front of me. He spoke in a hushed tone with his butler for a few moments with his arms folded over his chest. The boy's brow was furrowed, whatever he was saying about me, it was obvious he wasn't happy. A chill ran through me when I briefly locked eyes with the butler. I pressed my back against the cold brick and flattened my ears in a feebly attempt to make myself seem smaller. There was something about him that made my hair stand on edge. I should go while I can.

Tearing myself away from the wall, I took an experimental, shaky step around the bodies in front of me, wondering which way I should have gone from here. The sky overhead was slowly darkening and I could feel the air pressure dropping with each second. Any minute now it was going to start pouring and I didn't want to be caught out in the storm. As if reading my mind, the butler placed himself in front of my tracks, and crouched in front of me. His sincere smile startled me. From how quickly he took care of those men, I didn't think he would have been so nice, or at least appear to be. "Hello, what might your name be?"

I took a small step back, placing my hand over the gash in my arm as blood trickled from the wound. There was something off about him. I could figure out what, but it gave me a bad feeling. "I won't hurt you."

The boy sighed impatiently, so I finally replied, "Ritsuka"

One of my ears twitched as the boy came up to me, taking over the conversation from his butler. I could still feel the strange man's eyes on me as I talked with his master. "I'm Ciel Phantomhive, and you just interfered with one of my undercover operations. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Are you a cop or something?"

His butler chuckled, but was quickly silenced with a glare. "Something like that. Where are you from? It's obvious you aren't from around here."

"Um… Japan." The boy arched one of his eyebrows, and looked to his butler, who gave a slight nod. "Where am I? Is this some sort of reenactment or something?"

The butler cut his master off and asked, "What year is it?"

I was hesitant to say anything. Why was he asking me this, didn't he know? Did something happen to me? Where did that thing send me? "2015?"

The boy snorted and turned his back on me, slowly making his way towards the direction I had come from, leaving me alone with his butler. "It's best you come with us, Ritsuka, we'll get this all sorted out." I cringed when a large drop of water hit my ear, and redirected my gaze skywards. "You don't have any place else to go, correct?"

He's right but… how are they supposed to help me? I don't even know where or when this is. I just want to wake up, this has to be a dream. "Yes but..."

I took a step away from his outstretched hand. It was strange how intently he watched me, like a cat stalking a mouse. I can't lose my ears here, mom will flip. "Nothing will happen to you so long as you're with us, I promise." I wanted to find comfort in his words, I really did, but staying out in the rain was starting to look better and better. Nobody said I had to spend the night, I can always leave when nobody is watching.

I reluctantly nodded. The butler smiled again and nodded, before taking me into his arms and standing. "Wait, p-put me down!"

"It's faster this way. You're hurt, save your strength. I'll patch you up when we get back to the manor."

I nodded again, but still wanted to be put down. "It's okay, I can walk. This is nothing."

It took some convincing, but once Ciel told him to just do it, I was returned to the ground, and left to follow the unusual pair on my own accord. We made our way down semi-familiar streets until I was back where I had been originally dumped. I partially hid behind Sebastian as we made our way down the street. I stood out like a sore thumb with my strange clothes and ears. Even at home, I never got this many strange looks when I went into school covered in scrapes and bruises. I might as well have been a different species.

The butler opened the door to a parked carriage, and waited for Ciel and me to climb in, before following behind us. I gripped the seat as the carriage ambled down the uneven street. The wheels gave in to the will of every rise and fall in the uneven road, and every time a wheel rolled across a pothole, I felt like the whole rickety car would tip over. I don't like this.

I was caught when the butler started speaking Japanese, while some of the words he used had been updated, it was nice to not have to translate everything into English, even if it was only for the time being. "What region are you from?"

"I don't know about all of that, but I live near Tokyo." He didn't say anything for a long time, probably not knowing where I was talking about. "Where is this?"

"London, 1887." This far back? It would have been next to impossible to find a means to get home. We weren't any closer to time travel back home than we would be here. Maybe we had a better view of how space worked, but that was as far at that would go. What happens if I'm stuck here? How can I die before I'm even born?

"You never told me your name."

"Forgive me, I am Sebastian Michaelis, it's a pleasure."

I nodded weakly, flinched as we rolled over another pot hole. Ciel tore his gaze away from the window. His visible blue eye roamed over my small, battered frame, then flicked to Sebastian, before returning to the window. "Make sure your stray behaves himself, Sebastian. I don't know how he got here, but we can't have him interfering with anything."

"Of course, young master."

The bustling streets eventually gave way to a winding, heavily forested path. "Uh, how much farther."

"Several miles."

I cringed and hunched over, wanting nothing more than a flat path for even several moments. I'd take crowded train rides over this any day. I'm never getting in one of these things again.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to come find me.”  
I nodded and waited until Sebastian had closed the door behind him before letting out a tired sigh. While Sebastian made tea for Ciel, he decided to put me in a bath before bandaging me up. While I was grateful he had given me a place to stay, but at the same time, I would have rather held off until later. A bath wasn't going to do anything to help me wake up. I hadn't felt fully reassured that nothing was going to happen to me while I was here. I didn't want to waste time playing house here when I wasn't even supposed to be here. I could unintentionally change something and completely throw off the course of history. Just thinking about it makes my head hurt. Why did this have to happen to me?  
I shivered in the humid air as I undid the buttons on my shirt. My clothes fell in a crumpled heap near the tub, then I slipped into the borderline scalding water. New found scrapes flared up in pain, while the stiffness in my neck from sleeping hunched over in the carriage faded. This is just for tonight, tomorrow I can start trying to figure out how to get home.  
The water around my arm turned pink as I tried cleaning off some of the dried blood. By time I was finished cleaning the dirt from my skin, the water had cooled. A small whirlpool formed over the drain when I pulled the rubber stopper from its place, and carefully climbed out of the tub. Water dripped onto the tiled floor as I quickly dried off, and started to redress myself.  
Sebastian knocked on the door as I picked up the shirt I had been loaned, carrying a small first aid kit. “How was your bath?”  
“Fine, thank you.”  
He smiled and closed the door back before crossing to me. He gently turned my arm over in his gloved hand to take a better look at my now bleeding scrape. Sebastian hummed to himself before placing the first aid kit on the floor and looking through its contents. He balanced on the balls of his feet and pulled out a brown glass bottle, and a cotton ball. “You're wound doesn't seem too serious.”  
I nodded and sat on the floor in front of him, keeping my eyes trained on the floor. There was something about his red-tinted eyes that put me at an unease. He just watched me a little too intently. I didn't know if it was because he hadn't decided if I was a threat yet, or he was trying to figure me out. I can't remember the last time someone paid so much attention to me...I don't like it. “Can you please stop staring at me?”  
“Pardon?” Sebastian's eyes darted up to meet mine for a fleeting moment, before he reached into the box next to him and pulled out a roll of gauze.  
“Stop staring, I'm not some kind of freak or something. This is normal where I come from.” The tip of my tail twitched in frustration when he chuckled. “It's not funny!”  
Heat rose to my face when he gently stroked one of my ears. Excitement sparkled from the depths of his eyes as he explained, “you have misinterpreted my intentions. I just have yet to see a creature so magnificent in this world. Who knew humans would evolve to have cat-like qualities.”  
“Uh, um that's...” I stammered uselessly for a few moments, struggling to come up with the right words. Was he for real? I had gotten nothing but strange looks from just about everyone on the street earlier. None of them seemed too inclined to take an interest in me. He didn't seem to think to badly of me, but this was just weird. “Don't you know it's rude to touch people without asking? I'm not you're pet.”  
Sebastian pulled his hand away, still beaming, “forgive me.” He firmly wrapped the gauze around my arm, and secured it. “Is there anywhere else you would like me to take a look at?”  
“No, thank you.” I quickly pulled the shirt on and stood. Ciel's clothes were a little big on me, but I didn't know if it was because that was the style or they were the wrong size.  
Sebastian slid the bottle back into the metal case, and stood. “The Young Master is taking tea in the drawing room. I'll clean up here, while you go join him. It's just down the hall and to the left.” I nodded, grateful he hadn't left me to find it on my own, and followed his instructions. The hallway wasn't as warm as the bathroom, and I shivered in the cold air before making my way down the hall. I took a left as Sebastian had instructed and hesitated outside an open door. Aside from the rustling of paper, I couldn't hear anything else coming from the room. Ciel was obviously still waiting for me, but I didn't want to interrupt whatever he was doing. I am living in his house, the least I can do is show up when he asks for me.  
Taking a deep breath, I rounded the corner and stepped into the large sitting room. Ciel didn't look up from the papers he was going over when I sat down across from him, so I waited for him to finish whatever he was doing. My eyes wandered around the room, not resting on any one thing for too long. The green walls matched the upholstered arm chairs near the fireplace. Bookcases lines the walls, but they seemed more for decoration than reading. I never really understood the point of that. Everyone knows you aren't reading the books, why bother keeping them? “What year did you say you were from?”  
It took me a few moments to realize Ciel was talking to me. Aside from a slight adjustment in his posture, he hadn't given me any signals that he was now paying attention to me. “2015.”  
“How did you manage to get yourself brought back here?”  
My ears flattened against the top of my head, and I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt. If I had known, I would have already done whatever I needed to to get myself home. “I don't know myself. I was in my room, trying to sleep and then I was here.”  
Ciel didn't seem impressed with my spotty memory and huffed. “What do you make of this, Sebastian?”  
Sebastian entered with a silver tray. Two cups, a tea pot, and a slice of strawberry cake were balanced upon the thin metal. While offering his two cents, he poured tea for both Ciel and I. “While I have met some who are wise beyond there years, I have yet to come across someone who actually been transported across time. That would require some powerful magic I'm afraid, and the results aren't nearly what you'd want them to be. Time travel is quite troublesome.”  
“Can't you just send him back and be done with it?”  
“I personally can't. Such things were never sparked my interest. But, like I said, there's no way to be certain of where we send him.”  
Ciel pointedly stabbed his cake, demanding to know, “Then what am I supposed to do with him? He can't possibly stay here.”  
“It never hurts to have another pair of capable hands around the house.”  
Sebastian smirked at his master, while the young boy glared at him. I sat there forgotten, unsure of what had happened. If it was actually possible to time travel at this point in time, wouldn't the future be completely different from what it was? And magic? Such things weren't real. These two are living in a fantasy land. I picked up the cup before me and took a hesitant sip of my tea. Sebastian and Ciel bickered for a few more moments before Sebastian suggested, “for now I need to start dinner, Ritsuka can come help me while you finish you work.”  
Ciel pouted, but waved Sebastian away as if he was nothing more than an annoying fly. “Do what you much, but you aren't keeping any more strays Sebastian, I'm allergic to cats.”  
I returned the small cup to it's saucer and stood. I didn't want to linger, when it was obvious Ciel wasn't keeping me here because he wanted to, or if he did, he wasn't going to let me on anytime soon. Sebastian paused in the doorway and waited for me to catch up before leading the way through the labyrinth of dimly lit corridors. “I'm not really much of a cook.”  
“I'm sure you'll be more of a help than our chef.” Irritation crept into his voice at the mention of their chef. But come to think of it, why was he the one doing all the cooking when they had a chef. What was the point in keeping someone around who couldn't do their job? Did Ciel just take pity on them? There had to be more to it than that.  
I nodded reluctantly and followed behind him. A blond man was standing over one of the cast iron stoves when Sebastian and I entered. He muttered to himself while tinkering with something. A pot of something threatened to boil over while Sebastian hovered over him. He turned off the burner before glaring down at him. “What are you doing?”  
The man started, and ended up smacking his head on the inside of the stove. “Don't sneak up on a guy like that.” He rubbed the back of his head as he straightened. “I'm cleaning the stove, what's it look like I'm doing?”  
He dropped a blackened rag on the counter next to the stove, then his blue eyes darted towards me. They widened slightly, and he moved his unlit cigarette to the other side of his mouth. “Who's the kid?”  
I looked to Sebastian to come up with an answer. He would have been better for coming up with a plausible reason for my being here than I would. “He's going to be staying with us for a while.” He hesitantly opened the lid of the pot. Then replaced it. “Once you've finished with the stove, mash these. Make sure you don't use too much milk.”  
“I'm not an idiot, y'know. I can at least mash some measly potatoes.” Sebastian called me over to the pantry, and handed me a bundle of carrots and various other vegetables. With some luck, I managed to carry them all over to the sink, and started to wash them off while Sebastian pulled the knives out of a drawer and pulled out a cutting board.  
Sebastian sighed when one of the bells on the wall started to ring, and instructed me on what to do before leaving me alone with the chef. He scraped away at the stoves burnt innards, while I carefully sliced up the celery. I didn't know what Sebastian was going to make with them, but I was happy to be of some use to him. “Say kid, what's your name?”  
He tossed the rag aside again and came to stand next to me. He a piece of the carrot Sebastian had cut before he left and studied me. His eyes lingered on my rigid tail and pricked ears for a moment, but when he realized I was watching him, he tore his eyes away. “Ritsuka.”  
"Bardroy,” he playfully ruffled my hair then leaned against the counter, “Bard for short.” I nodded slightly, paying more attention to not cutting myself with the knife than his attempts to make small talk. Bard watched me for several more moments before sighing, “No, no your doing it all wrong.” I flinched when he tried taking the knife from me, but let him to as he wanted, taking a step back to watch. He was the chef. He lined up several of the stalks, cut of the bottom and the leafy tops before explaining, “It'll take forever if you do it that way.” I let him take over, less confident with my knife work than he was.  
He nudged the chopped celery into a pile at the end of the cutting board. “Don't let Sebastian work you too hard, okay?”  
“I don't mind, I wouldn't do something I didn't want to.” Bard sighed and handed the knife back to me so I could cut up the carrots. I knew he meant well, but I didn't need him looking after me. Who knew, by this time tomorrow, I could already be back in my own house.

~***~

A frustrated sigh escaped me as I turned over in my oversized bed for what felt like the hundredth time this night. Rain continued to pelt against the window, a poor distraction from the unbearable silence. Flashes of lightning would briefly illuminate the large room, followed by a clap of thunder before the pattering of rain claimed the empty air once again. Even after everything I could get to sleep. Earlier I was afraid of falling asleep in the bath and now when I was finally able to rest, I couldn't. This room was too big, and it felt like everyone was so far away. I didn't like it.  
After a few moments of laying there and staring up at the ceiling, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, and hesitantly padded over to door. I rested my hand on the doorknob for a few seconds, then resolved to open the door, and made my way down the stairs to Sebastian's room. I didn't know if he would be up, or if he was even there, but at least it gave me something to do besides lay there and listen to the rain. Sleeping with Seimei always made me feel better, so maybe it'd work with Sebastian.  
It was surprisingly easy to make my way to the back of the house in the dark. Everything was pretty much a square when it came down to it, there were just a lot of extra diversion here and there that led pretty much nowhere. A crack of light shone from underneath Sebastian's door as I stood in the hallway. At least he's still awake. I raise my hand to knock, but something must have already alerted him to my presence there because he announced, “It's open.”  
My heart pounded in my chest as I opened the door and stepped into Sebastian's brightly lit room. He was sitting at the wooden desk, flipping through a worn book, not seeming to be reading any of it. Somehow the sparsely furnished room suited him. The curtains fluttered in the draft coming from the open window, but none of the rushing water outside drifted past the wooden threshold. This side of the house must be sheltered from the wind. Now that I wasn't alone, the storm didn't even seem half bad. It wasn't anything I hadn't been through back home. “I thought it was you, make yourself at home.”  
I lingered in the doorway for a few more moments. He hadn't looked up, but he didn't seem bothered by my presence there. Eventually I resolved to venture into the room, closing the door behind me. Sebastian closed the book and cast it aside, “I believe this belongs to you.” he grabbed a scrap of paper off the desk and offered it to me. Upon closed inspection, I found it was a picture of my brother. Where did he manage to find this? I didn't think I had one with me… “It was in your pocket.”  
I nodded slightly, gazing at the wrinkled piece of paper. I took this, on his first day of high school. “He means a lot to you,” Sebastian observed.  
I nodded again, “It's my brother. He's always looked out for me. I don't know what I'd do without him.”  
“I guess you'll find out now, I know you couldn't have come down here just to make small talk with me.”  
“No, um...” A soft mew cut me off, and Sebastian inched his chair away from the desk. The black cat that had been sitting on his lap yawned and stretched. It's fur was still damp from the rain outside, but it seemed happy enough sitting there. Sebastian picked the small animal up and rested his forehead against it's smaller one. He cooed over the temporarily compliant animal until it swatted him on the nose. Sebastian didn't seem to mind, and set it on the desk, where it sniffed the book, then sneezed. “You have a cat?”  
“In a sense, the young master is allergic so she's not allowed in the house, but I couldn't just leave her outside in this dreadful weather.” His eyes followed me as I moved to sit on the edge of the bed and he waited for me to answer his question.  
“I couldn't really sleep so I thought….”  
“You could stay in here?” I nodded and stared at the stone floor. “Very well. Make yourself comfortable, I'll only be a moment.”  
Sebastian tucked away the books stacked on his desk while I made myself comfortable, eventually settling so my back was pressed against the wall. It's no good if I become dependent on him. What will I do when he's gone?  
The light blinked out as I burrowed beneath the blankets and Sebastian joined me. He lightly ran his fingers through my hair as I lay there, only stopping when I turned onto my stomach. “Do you wish me to stop?”  
“No, it's okay, I don't mind.” I was thankful for when Sebastian's cat came to fill the space between us, otherwise I might have been tempted to curl up against his chest. For the first time in days, I was finally able to drift off for more than a few moments, and fell into a deep, uninterrupted, sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

The carriage finally came to a stop at a faded yellow brick building and one by one we filed out of the small cabin. A crooked purple sign reading 'Undertaker' in white letters hung above the wooden door followed by a small skull. My stomach was still in knots from the painfully long carriage ride and the only way Sebastian had eventually coaxed me into agreeing to accompany him and Ciel on their trip into town was promising me they knew someone who would be able to help. However, I didn't think death was a side effect for motion sickness, and I had no intentions of dying today or any time soon. Not while I was here at least, so far away from everyone I knew. I should have known better than to trust him.

Sebastian glanced back at me as I hesitated near the carriage. Getting back in the rickety vessel was more tempting than following them inside. There was something off putting about a mortician being so close to the harbor, let alone one who operated out of such a rundown building. Nothing about this screamed 'safe and wholesome'. I wasn't about to let myself get caught in the middle of something that would draw any more attention to myself. Sebastian firmly placed one of his gloved hands on my shoulders and forcefully guided me forward, "not everything is what it seems."

I fought against the urge to roll my eyes and stepped just out of his reach. How was someone who embalmed corpses for a living going to possibly understand how to send me through time? From how agitated Ciel was, which was ever more than what I had grown to expect from him, I didn't think he knew how this was going to play out either. Or he had a particular dislike for his informant.

Dust motes tickled my nose as I slowly followed them inside. The still air was filled with the scent of chemicals and death. My ears flattened against my head as I followed them further inside, until the door could be closed, taking with it the inviting sunshine and leaving me in the gloom that surrounded this bizarre mortuary. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the new found darkness. I scanned over the numerous jars that lined the shelves, all containing organs and other things cut from some poor soul's body only to float around in a green preserving liquid. As far as I could tell, there wasn't anyone else in here aside from us, leading me to believe we were on some wild goose chase. "So where is this 'Undertaker'?"

Sebastian's eye lingered on something behind me for a few moments, before he pointedly looked away with a sigh. The faint sound of rustling fabric and wood scraping against wood caught my attention, but before I could turn, something sharp ran down the lengths of my spine to the tip of my tail. Acting upon instinct, I wrapped my tail around myself and whipped around, "Don't touch me!"

The man standing behind me seemed offended at such a reasonable request and stared at me for a few moments. He giggled when I inched closer to Sebastian and flattened my ears against my head. His waist-length silver hair covered most of his face and a pair of black boots peeked out from underneath the robes he wore. The silence drew on as he moved in for a closer inspection. I pressed my back against Sebastian's chest as he ran one of his long, black nails against one of my ears. A wide grin spread across his face as he cooed, "you brought me a little kitten this time." I kept my eyes on him as he moved around the room, fiddling with this and that until he came for a stop in front of me again. For the time being I let him brush aside some of my hair to get a better look at my ears before adding, "I'm afraid removing them is outside my area of expertise, if that's what you brought him for. After all, this isn't your home, is it?"

I was sure how much I was supposed to trust him, even if Ciel did, this man didn't know me. I lowered my gaze to the floor and remained silent. Ciel could do all the talking. "I'm not here to play games. Can you send him back or not?"

The Undertaker thoughtfully tapped his chin with one of his nails and circled around Sebastian and me. Without giving any indication of his answer, the strange man led us over to the three coffins arranged in a semicircle at the head of the room. I sat next to Ciel and tucked my tail underneath me in case our host decided to get grabby again. He set a battered metal kettle on a hot plate before enthusiastically stating, "I have no idea!" I should have known better… what if I can't ever get back? "I can stop by the library and see what comes up, but there are no guarantees."

"If it's as simple as that, why can't we do it ourselves? What should we look for?"

Ciel glared at me as if I had asked a question with an obvious answer, while Sebastian hid behind a coy smirk and left the Undertaker to fill in the blanks. What could a library in this time have that we didn't back home besides lots of long winded books that didn't survive through time? I didn't even think alchemy would have worked. Chemists bonded different elements every day but we didn't have the capability to time travel.

The Undertaker ruffled my hair and grinned down at me, thinking of me as nothing more than a child. "It's no place for a child, you're much better off going home with the little earl." He paused to study Ciel for a moment before asking, "Unless he wishes to explain all of this to you."

"That won't be necessary. Do what you must. I'll be back in a week." He stood abruptly and forced the Undertaker back a step. Anything I tried to ask was ignored, and I was left to follow Ciel and Sebastian back outside to the waiting carriage. I hate this.

I sighed softly and glanced across the room to where Ciel and Lau were talking. He had gone through this several times now, but Lau asked the most pointless questions their conversation was dragged off course several times. Lau remained blissfully ignorant of Ciel's growing frustration while I waited for a reason to leave.

Things had been going on like this for days and I was expected to sit quietly in the corner until someone decided to talk to me… or treat me like I was some pet. How long did he expect me to sit there and listen to Ciel talk about me as if he knew everything about me? Sometimes he almost had me convinced, then I reminded myself I had only been here for a brief and frustratingly uneventful week. At first I thought I would have never gotten used to living here, but now…

I closed my eyes for a few moments, then slid out of the chair I had momentarily settled myself in. Neither Ciel nor Lau paid me any mind as I crossed in-between them and headed for the ajar door. When I pulled it open, I nearly collided with Sebastian, who had come to collect the tray from afternoon tea. He caught my wrist as I tried to slip by him, only to wrench myself free. "Don't touch me."

He stepped after me and closed the door back. "Forgive me. Is something troubling you?"

"Nothing, I'm just sick of everybody putting their hands on me." He started to follow me down the hall. "Leave me alone." I expected him to go back to Ciel, after all he was waiting for him, but instead Sebastian continued to follow me as I made my way down the hall and descended the stairs. Why is he doing this? I don't need him to make me feel better.

He didn't say anything as I stepped outside, just followed behind me without saying anything. "What are you doing?"

"I thought it was obvious."

Sighing, I turned to face him. His calm expression didn't reveal any of his true intentions, leaving me even more confused than I already was. I didn't want him standing there and watching me while I tried to sort through everything, I couldn't do anything with someone watching me, and it was stressful. "Well it's not. I don't need a babysitter either. I can sit outside on my own without getting into trouble."

"I don't doubt that, you do seem very capable."

"That doesn't explain why you followed me out here."

I eased myself onto the ground beneath the large tree in the center of the yard. Sebastian paused a moment, before crouching in front of me. "You don't really want to be alone, do you?"

"You're no better than Ciel, don't just assume things because you want them to be true."

Despite having told him just minutes ago not to touch me so freely, he rested his hand on top of my head, and gently ran his thumb across one of my ears. "I haven't assumed anything. After all, you haven't tried to get me to leave."

While he may have been somewhat right, I didn't want to give him an excuse to stay. Who was I to go around giving him orders? I wasn't going to order him to do something just because I was in a bad mood. "I thought Ciel was looking for you."

He didn't say anything and continued to run his fingers through my hair. "Not right this moment." I closed my eyes for a few moments as he rubbed one of my ears, then quickly straightened and cleared my throat. "He might pop a blood vessel if you keep him waiting too long."

Sebastian nodded and reluctantly stood, making his way across the lawn. It wasn't until he was finally out of sight when I breathed a sigh of relief and rested my back against the trees trunk. Why does he keep doing that? I don't want to get close to him, I'm going home.

I pulled my head out from under Lau's hand for what felt like the hundredth time in the past hour. I couldn't tell if it was because he was stubborn or he forgot I didn't like it. His brain was like a sieve, no matter how much you poured into it, after time passed it would all be gone again and you'd have to fill it back up. I didn't know what to make of his 'sister' though. She hadn't said two words to me, but she watched everything with a predatory sharpness, like she was making up for everything Lau failed to notice.

Why Ciel had left with him, of all people, was beyond me. I was well past the age of being able to stay home by myself for a few hours, and it wasn't exactly like I was going to be alone. Bard and the others were there. The five of them couldn't have been that incapable of taking care of themselves. It was bad enough they made me get in the carriage again, but they wouldn't even tell me where they were going or what they were doing. If Ciel had come to town on business, odds were he wouldn't have dragged me along, so it must have had to do with the Undertaker's trip to the 'library'. But, if I wasn't even going to be there, then what was the point in bringing me here in the first place? I've never felt so clueless in my life. "What's wrong little one, cat got your tongue?"

I ignored his play on words and flattened my ears against my head. There wasn't anything to say to him. I might as well have just called him my babysitter. "Why does Ciel hang out with an opium dealer?"

"My my, curiosity did kill the cat." He paused and smiled down at me before explaining, "I don't think Ciel is very fond of me, but I can be quite useful to him when I want to be."

"Ciel doesn't like anyone, I wouldn't take it personally." I tilted my head back and rested it against the couch cushion, studying the ornate pattern on ceiling. All the smoke was starting to make me light headed, if I trusted Lau I might have been tempted to take a nap as well. Ciel better be back soon, I don't want to fall asleep here.

Lau rested his hand on my head again, and I inched away from him with a defeated sigh. A man in a top hat entered, and dragged Lau's attention away from me. When he left with the man and his sister without a word, I rose from the floor and sprawled out across the couch. For a few, brief moments, I was granted peace, and lay there with my eyes closed.

I could feel eyes on me as I started to drift off, but chalked it up to a contact high and my pent up anxiety. When the idle twitching of my tail was brought to a stop by wandering hands, I groggily opened my eyes, expecting to see Lau there, only it wasn't. Scrambling into a sitting position, I pressed my back against the back of the couch and tucked my tail behind me. The man ran one of his fingers down the length of my spine and smirked, mischief twinkling in his bloodshot eyes. "Aren't you a cute one?"

His friend nodded in agreement, and took a place on the couch to my left, draping his arm over my shoulder a little too casually. With no place to go that didn't involve tearing myself away from them, I hugged my knees to my chest and didn't say anything. There's even people like that here.

"Don't be shy."

The one on the floor gazed up at me, while his friend started running his fingers through my hair. "We aren't going to bite." People like this piss me off.

"Don't touch me."

Their eyes widened, and his hand faltered, before coming to a stop on the top of my head near one of my ears. "Why not, we're all friends here?" The one of the floor reached up to caress my neck, a lustful smirk crossing his features. "We'll make you feel good, won't we?" His friend nodded and buried his face in my hair, and hummed contently to himself.

A wave of nausea washed over me as I scrambled to my feet. "People like you should go die!"

The one on the couch remained in a daze and stared at me, unblinking, for a few moments. His friend on the floor frowned and glared at me, making a grab for my arm, but I stepped out of his reach. "Kids like you should respect your elders."

"Being an adult means nothing if you're a terrible person. Adults should set an example, not make fools of themselves."

He rose to unsteady feet, and stood over me, swaying as if he couldn't quite find his center of gravity. The man staggered forward a few steps until I was in arms reach, then made a grab for one of my shoulders. I sidestepped his arm and waited for him to advance again. His companion remained on the couch unmoved, and seemed to have a better grasp on the situation than he did. "Leave the kid alone there'll be others besides…" He trailed off and glanced behind him, distracted by some figment of his temporarily distorted imagination.

"As if, someone's gotta teach him a lesson!" With that he lunged for me again. I ducked under him, and used my shoulder to topple him to the ground. If he had been any more sober it wouldn't have worked as well as I planned. Before he could recover himself, I made my way to the door and slipped outside into the cool afternoon. I pressed my back against the heavy wood and sucked in the clean air. With each passing breath my head grew clearer, until the fog had lifted and I was able to think clearly once again. My shaky nerves eventually stabilized, and for a brief moment I contemplated going back inside. I shook my head and closed my eyes for a few moments.There's no way I'm going back in there.

I peeled myself away from the door and glanced around at the people on the street. Aside from a few sideways glances, and curious whispering, there wasn't anything I saw that seemed out of the ordinary. Back to square one, I picked a direction at random and started walking. Having grown to expect them, they constant staring and snippets of conversation deeming him a 'freak' and 'odd little creature', hadn't bothered him as much as they may have several days ago.

I shivered when a gust of wind picked up and tucked my hands into my pockets. I stared at the uneven ground as I walked, avoiding puddles of brackish water and potholes as I went. A few carriages rattled by, but other than that the streets were relatively quiet. Maybe the natives knew something I didn't, but the pale blue sky overhead didn't seem to hold the promise of rain.

A nagging in the back of my mind kept telling me to go back, it was the sensible thing to do, but I also wondered what the point of it would be. Ciel didn't have any idea on how to send me home. The only reason he probably wanted to keep me with him in the first place was to protect his reputation. At least, Sebastian seemed convinced so. He may not have said it directly, but he always seemed to most off put about Ciel talking about me as if I was nothing more than a problem to him; despite my insisting it didn't bother me. Compared what mom always did to me, Ciel's treatment was less than mild.

The streets eventually opened up, until I found myself wandering through an extensive park. There were several people walking arm in arm with one another, of a few groups of people strolling along without a care in the world. For a moment, I could find comfort in my surroundings. Being around so many living, and growing things always put my mind at ease. When I had free time after school I often went to the park after stopping off in the library. There was a clearing amongst the trees that almost nobody knew about. It was a safe haven where I could get away from everything.

After examining a sturdy looking oak, I glanced around to make sure nobody was watching, then scrambled up the thick trunk to a low hanging branch. I clambered up until a clump of leafy branches kept me hidden from the ground and balanced myself in the crook of a tree branch. The sounds of the city faded into the background when I closed my eyes. The earthy smell of the bark was enough to lull me into a light doze, however every so often I'd steal a glance around to make sure I hadn't been spotted. Nobody seemed to be looking to the trees much anyway, so eventually I let the creeping darkness consume me.

Rustling leaves broke through my pleasant dream and I could feel eyes on me as I lay there. Startled back into the present, my eyes flew open and I gripped the branch for balance to find Sebastian perched no less than an arm's reach away. "There you are." I took a few deep breaths to calm my shaky nerves and gradually loosened my grip on the thick branch. I glanced down at the ground, then back to him, wondering how he had managed to get all the way up here without my noticing. "You really shouldn't sleep in a place like this, it's not wise."

Having not intended to sleep for so long, I stole a glance at the darkening sky. Streaks of pink and orange clawed their way across the horizon, and I could spot a few twinkling stars through the leafy canopy. Of course he wasn't going to let me go so easily, that would be too simple. Still caught up on his sudden, and unannounced presence, I asked, "How did you get up here?"

"The same way you did, how else?" He tilted his head to the side in a questioning manner, and studied me for a few moments, then continued with his lecture. "While I am glad you have not come under any harm in my absence, you should really be more careful. I don't know what it's like in your time, but it's very dangerous for someone your age to be out alone. You never know-

"Spare me. I've heard enough about 'stranger danger' from my teachers in school to last a lifetime. I know how to take care of myself, I'm not stupid enough to go with somebody just because they offer me candy, or whatever it is if they offer her. I'm not a little kid."

Sebastian chuckled and shifted his weight before standing. He hardly wobbled as the branch bended beneath his weight, but the thin chunk of wood didn't come close to breaking. "Nevertheless, what brings you out here? I didn't think I'd have to worry about you running off on your own."

I shrugged and turned so I was facing him, struggling to make out his face in the early twilight. "I needed some fresh air, so I took a walk and ended up here. I hadn't intended on going so far, but I didn't want to get even more lost so I stayed here."

"In a tree."

I nodded firmly, hoping he wouldn't press the subject. He'd only worry if I told him the real reason I left. If I wanted to prove I could take care of myself, I didn't want him thinking I had been assaulted. Sebastian didn't sound convinced, but he quickly change the subject. "Try to be more careful in the future, you must be especially careful in your travels. Let's get going, shall we?"

I reached for him as he stepped off the branch, and stared at the ground, he peered back up at me and waited for me to follow. "You shouldn't jump from so high."

He brushed some dirt off his pants as if injuring himself was the least of his worries. "What kind of butler would I be if I couldn't do such things?"

I sighed and pressed my back against the trunk of the tree. Even thought he had come all this way out here to find me, I still wasn't convinced I belonged with him. In my eagerness to get home I hadn't really looked at the big picture. A young boy with a vast enterprise was the last person who would be able to help me. While he had the resources to do whatever he wished, he didn't have the brains to figure this out on his own. A scientist would be much better suited for this task, and this was an era of invention. That's stupid. How are you going to find someone who is suited to the task and believes you? "Is something wrong?"

"I don't think I can."

"Why do you say that?"

"It's just… I don't belong."

"Of course you don't. You aren't accustomed to how things work here. Even if you have been placed in your own country during the same time, the only thing you'd have in common with everyone there is your background, and what you may have picked up in a history book. I'd be more concerned if you did fit in."

"Yes, but I just don't understand why Ciel is doing this. I don't understand anything."

Sebastian frowned and checked his pocket watch. "It's not my place to tell you what to do. If you really wish to be left to your own devices then I can simply tell the young master I failed to locate you." He gazed up at me, and in the dim light I could have sworn his eyes were a strange pink color. "Which will it be, Ritsuka? Stay here or come with me?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"What will it be, Ritsuka? Stay here, or come with me?" Why does he have to say it like that? He makes it sound like I'm rejecting him if I don't say yes. This was more than just me or him. Having to sit by and not do anything while Ciel tried to solve my problems for me was frustrating. I had to rely on someone I barely knew and would never meet again after this. There had to have been something I could have done to help, I just didn't know what. Distancing myself was more than likely not the way to go, and the same went for staying here by myself. Fending for myself at home was entirely different than this. At least I fit in back home. I was familiar with my surroundings and I was more fluent in the language. Looking at this logically there wasn't any real choice, plus I didn't think Ciel was really going to let me go that easily, but at least Sebastian was trying to give me a sense of control in this situation.

I bit my bottom lip and reluctantly nodded, before slowly lowering my weight to a branch beneath me. "Jump." I felt my eyes widen at the suggestion and quickly shook my head. Unlike him, I wasn't sure I'd make the fall without hurting myself in the process. Sebastian chuckled at my reluctance, and assured he catch me.

"Don't make promises if you can't keep them." Sebastian remained silent as I continued to shimmy my way down the tree. Scraps of bark peeled off in my hands, and a few dead leaves had settled on top of my head by time I made the final leap to the ground. I brushed my hands off on my pants and looked to Sebastian, who picked a few pieces of bark out of my hair.

"Shall we be off?"

I nodded and lowered my gaze to the ground as he walked. Sebastian slipped his hand into mine, calmly writing it off as not wanting me to get lost as we left the grassy knoll. A few kerosene streetlamps had already been lit, and did their best to light the way. "I'm sorry about the other day, I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Sebastian took a moment to think back, then shook his head and smiled. "No harm done. I didn't take it personally."

I nodded again and continued to stare at the uneven cobblestone. I stole a glance at my surroundings, wondering how far we were going before realizing that there wasn't a carriage in sight. "Where are we going?"

Sebastian ruffled my hair, and offered no explanation for me. For the time being I wouldn't have to endure another carriage ride. The surrounding streets seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place where we were going. Thankfully it wasn't back to Lau, I knew that much.

A chill ran down my spine as we approached the Undertaker's shop and I involuntarily shivered at the thought of having to deal with the strange man again. Sebastian came to a stop a few feet away from the door and glanced down at me. "Are you cold?"

My ears flattened against the top of my head and I quickly shook my head. "No, it's nothing like that."

He doubtfully pressed one of his gloved hands against my forehead, then hummed to himself, stating, "You don't seem to have a fever."

"I told you I'm fine, but do we have to go in there?" Sebastian ruffled my hair again and took a step towards the door.

"There's no way around it. You'll have to endure it for the time being." He turned the knob and waited for me to enter first. A few candles placed haphazardly around the room did a poor job of fending off the creeping darkness, and called more attention to the macabre things floating around in the shelved jars. There wasn't any sign of the undertaker, but I kept my ears pricked for any sounds of movement that wasn't from Sebastian.

The butler scanned around the dim room before sighing and closing the door back. "I've brought him as you requested." After a lot of shuffling around and something heavy toppling to the floor, the Undertaker emerged from where he had been hiding out in the back room, a wide smirk spread across his face before having even laid eyes on me. "There you are! I was afraid the little earl would have scared you off by now."

I pressed my back against Sebastian's chest and remained silent. No amount of reassurances could make this feeling of unease around him disappear. Maybe it was just this place, and had nothing to do with the Undertaker himself. Eccentricity was nothing I wasn't used to, but there was just something there that made my blood run cold every time he tried to be friendly. I nodded curtly when he stopped in front of me, and kept my eyes trained on the creaky wooden floor. Sebastian looked on as the Undertaker rested his hand on top of my hand, and vigorously tousled my hair. I swatted his hand away when he gave a tuft of my hair a gentle pull and firmly told him not to touch me.

He giggled and backed away, his creepy smile never fading. "Where did you say you were from again?"

"I didn't." When I looked to Sebastian for help, he pretended not to notice my apprehension and remained silent while the Undertaker continued to prod me. "How about when? I've seen some pretty strange things in my travels, but I have yet to come across someone with you…affliction."

"It's not an affliction, I'm not sick! I told you, this is normal."

Undertaker chuckled and ruffled my hair again in spite of my attempts to dodge his hand. "Maybe there it is, but, in case you haven't noticed, you stand out, kitten."

"Don't call me that. I'm not a cat."

"I never said you were little one." He looked to Sebastian then added, "If this doesn't work I could always try writing him back."

Sebastian frowned, and protectively rested one of his hands on my shoulder. "Even if it would work, how safe could it really be?"

Undertaker shrugged, sounding a little too enthusiastic when stating he didn't know. "Worst comes to worse, I can always bring him back by the same method and we can try something else."

"I would hope it doesn't come to that." Sebastian steered me back outside, and paused in the open door after directing me into the carriage. "I'll see if I can turn up anything on my end." The Undertaker waved him off and closed the door to his shop after Sebastian had closed the door to the carriage.

"What was that about?"

Sebastian flashed me a weary smile as the carriage started to amble down the long road leading back to my temporary home, still keeping whatever was going on a secret from me. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with."

I frowned and glared at Sebastian, trying to press him for an answer. "Then why did I have to be there if it was 'nothing I need to concern myself with'. If that was the case I could have waited in the carriage."

"There are some things you're better off knowing. Once you learn something, you can't forget." I shouldn't have expected things to change. For now I let the subject drop, and gazed out across the darkened landscape as it rolled by. Sebastian had made a big deal about my coming back and now I was right back where I started: out of the loop. None of us seemed to really know what was going on, or how to fix this, but Sebastian and Ciel knew what they were trying to do while I was left with vague snippets of conversation and empty promises. Then don't put me in the middle of this.

The rest of the carriage ride carried out in tense silence. I slipped into a light doze on several occasions, but each time I awoke to find Sebastian watching me. His brow furrowed, as if something troubled him, but when I tried to figure out what, he ignored me, and checked the time instead. Ciel's brightly lit home stood a beacon of light amongst the trees, and was a welcomed sight.

We went our separate ways once inside, and it was probably for the better. Sebastian went to the kitchen to check on dinner preparations while I retreated to my room. My head was still spinning from the long carriage ride. A few minutes rest and ridding myself of these stuffy clothes was just the remedy I needed. The light remained off as I navigated around the darkened room with ease. I flopped down on the oversized bed and buried my face in one of the pillows in an attempt to block out all the shuffling other just barely audible sounds floating up from their unseen sources. It must have worked, because in now time at all I had managed to drift off.

Nothing had changed when I slowly swam my was tot he surface of my consciousness other than the eerie silence that had settled over the house. There was no way to be certain until the clock downstairs chimed the hour, but my growling stomach told me I had slept a long longer than I had originally intended. I swiped my tongue around my dry mouth a few times, and stretched my tense shoulder muscles before stumbling out of bed.

Moonlight drifted in through the open curtains, and helped me make my way across the room to the door. Making my way through the complex series of different corridors was another matter entirely. I ran my fingertips along the smooth wall as I went, feeling my way down the stairs and to the kitchen. Navigating through the downstairs halls was a lot easier than it was upstairs, because of all the windows letting in what little moonlight there was. I'm surprised woke me up...unless no one came to check on me.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my bedraggled hair. It was for the best, at least that's what I told myself. I shouldn't have expected so much. If anybody was going out of there way to keep an eye on me it was Sebastian, and I still couldn't figure out if we were on speaking terms or not. Even after apologizing for taking it out on him, I just went and did it again. It's not his fault this happened. If he hadn't been trying so hard to get close, maybe I wouldn't have felt like I needed to keep him at a distance. I couldn't get close to him. There was no way this was going to end well for us.

After a few tries, I found the right cabinet and pulled out cup. At some point in my quest to sate my appetite, Sebastian had emerged from his room, and ended up positioning himself a foot behind me while I was filling the cup with water. I started when turning around, and nearly choked on the apple I had been munching on. I coughed several times to dislodge the chunk of apple stuck in my throat, before straightening, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Forgive me." He waited until I had taken a few sips of water and taken a few shaky breaths before continuing. "I was wondering when you would finally wake up."

I nodded and took another sip of water in attempts to get rid of the burning in my throat.

"How about something to eat?"

I nodded again, and eased myself onto the counter as he heated up the remainders of tonight's meal for me. We went about out business in silence, and after I had finished he wouldn't let me do so much as wash the dishes. Having slept the rest of the evening and most of the night, I wasn't quite ready to go to bed again, so I followed Sebastian back to his room. Once again, his cat was sprawled out on the desk next to a stack of papers and the window was wide open. "Don't feel you have to stay here."

"I don't. I'm just not tired yet." His cat picked it's head up as I lingered by his desk, trying to make out the titles of the books and failing. There embossed letters were either too faded on their cracked bindings, or hadn't existed in the first place. What would someone like him even read?

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I may not be the liveliest of company."

I shrugged, offering my hand to the lethargic cat. For now it let me pet them, and I glanced at Sebastian as he flipped through a book with a black binding. There were a lot of alchemy symbols, but that was the only thing I could pick out of the strange words scribbled out on the page. I couldn't even recognize the language. I caught him looking at me from the corner of his eye and quickly took his cat into my arms. The large animal mewed softly, but made no attempt to worm it's way out of my grip. "What are you reading?"

He chuckled softly, and took one of the cat's paws in his large hand. It's claws poked out from their sheaths when he applied a slight pressure. Aside from an annoyed huff, the cat put up with it. He must do that a lot. "It's quite a mouthful, and I don't know how well it will translate."

"What's it about?"

"In layman's terms, voodoo, and alchemy. I'm quite surprised, the two don't normally mix well."

For a moment I set aside logic. Of the two, alchemy was probably a more realistic option than strange chanting and human sacrifice. How the two could ever be related was beyond me, but Sebastian seemed to know more on the occult that I ever could, and for that I was thankful. This was the only thing I was happily uninvolved with. If I had been stuck pouring over stuff like this day and night I might have gone a littler mad. "I didn't think they would either."

"Some tribesmen have the right idea with some of their rituals, but most of these are just embarrassing. Why the indigenous people have such a thing for chicken blood I'll never know." A low, annoyed sound escaped him as he stared into his cats eyes, as if he had personally been wronged by a botched voodoo ritual. The thought of it was enough to raise the hairs on the back of my neck. Who knew a butler could have such a colorful past.

I returned his cat to the desk and eased myself onto the edge of the bed, before curling up on my side. Sebastian continued to read, occasionally frowning at the page or smiling to himself as if the strange symbols hid some sort of hidden joke only he understood.

My eyelids started to grown heavy when Sebastian's cat settled next to me, purring and smacking my thigh with its long tail. "If you insist on sleeping in here, you should at least get under the covers."

I waved him off and continued to run my fingers through the cat's soft fur. The air drifting in through the open window hadn't been that cold. Sleeping with the window was something I had done dozens of times, why would doing it here be any different?

The wooden chair scraped against the floor as Sebastian shoved away from his desk and moved me under the blankets himself. I left my arms draped around his neck when he tried pulling away again, until Sebastian cradled me in his lap. "You shouldn't stay up so late."

"You should worry more about your own needs."

I shook my head and shifted unto a more comfortable position, tucking my head under his chin and closed my eyes. "Don't tell someone to do something you won't do yourself."

He sighed when I continual refused his attempts to put be to bed, and sighed. "I can't very well do that with you clinging to me like this."

After a moments deliberation, I slide out of his lap and flopped down on the bed again, working my way under the blankets without disturbing Sebastian's sleeping cat. He tucked away a few loose pieces of paper, and carefully placed his books in the drawer of his desk before turning off the light and returning to my side. He ran his fingers through my hair and gazed into my eyes, Moonlight drifting in through the window gave his black hair a silver glow, and his normally dark red eyes seemed almost black in the low light. The sound of out shallow breaths filled the silence, as I hesitantly brought on of my hands up to rest against his chest. Warmth flowed off his skin and into my hands, and I could feel each rise and fall of his chest while he breathed.

Silence stretched between us as I inched closer to him, until my chest was pressed against his. Sebastian remained frozen where he was, his face, as always, a mask of cool indifference. His eyes remained transfixed on mine as the space between us closed, and he met me halfway for a gentle kiss. He buried his fingers in my hair while I clung to the front of his shirt. We parted for air, and Sebastian continued to place kisses on the sides of my face. "I something wrong?"

I shook my head and buried my face in his chest, suddenly embarrassed by the outburst. What was I thinking?Sebastian stroked one of my ears, humming softly until I managed to steal a glance up at him. He stopped humming, and brushed some hair off my face, smiling at me. "No need to be shy, there are worse things we could have done."

Heat rose to my cheeks and I buried my face in his chest, trying to hide my rising embarrassment at what he was implying. Joking or not, adults didn't usually tease kids about that until they got older. "My parents would kill me if I lost my ears."

Sebastian chuckled, and gently kissed me again. "Such things are left for better circumstances." He continued to run my fingers thought my hair, after I had turned and pressed my back against his chest. Warmth wrapped around me as I slowly drifted off to sleep once again.

Early afternoon light filtered in through the now closed window as Sebastian dressed himself for the day. His cat was long gone, having sought greener pastures from whatever it did all day to occupy itself. Ritsuka was still curled up on the bed. At some point during the night after Sebastian left him, he had wormed his way under the blankets. Now only his ears were sticking out from under the cotton fortress.

Sebastian could hear the rest of the staff slowly rising from their slumber down the hall, but it would have been at least another hour before he would have anything for them to do. He was almost done buttoning his tailcoat when he felt a presence behind him. He turned with a sigh and waited for his unannounced guest to emerge from the shadows. "I supposed I should expect nothing more from a 'butler' of you caliber."

Undertaker leaned against the door frame, and watched as Sebastian closed back his wardrobe. He jumped right to the point, and explained, "The young master has not yet risen, you'll have to wait."

"No need, I've done it myself." The strange man giggled when Sebastian glared at him. The fact that he had managed to elude Sebastian for so long frustrated him. It was one thing to remain hidden when he wasn't looking for him, but for him to have simply waltzed in with out a care in the world and have been right under his nose for so long annoyed him.

Sebastian brushed past the Undertaker in favor of beginning preparations for Ciel's morning meal. After watching Ritsuka sleep for a few more moments, Undertaker followed suit. The thought of Ritsuka getting caught up in Sebastian's charm brought a smile to his face. The young boy had no idea what he was getting himself into.

Just as he eased the kettle onto the stove, Sebastian sighed, busying himself with making toast for his disgruntled master as he stumbled down the hallway. Ciel ambled into the kitchen a few moments later, running his fingers through his disheveled hair. "Sebastian, what is the meaning of all of this?"

"That's something I'd like to know myself." Silence fell across the room as they both turned to the Undertaker, who was leaning against the counter and watching the unusual pair. However, he didn't speak until being prompted. "Why are you here?"

"I've come up with an explanation to our little kitten's sudden appearance here." It was this moment, Ritsuka chose to drag himself out of bed in search of something that would wake him up. Having slept a little over twelve hours, the last thing he wanted to do was risk sleeping the morning away as well. Even now as he ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to tame the tangled tresses, sleep was the first thing on his mind. In his defense, he had been sleeping a lot more than usual since coming here.

Feeling eyes on him, Ritsuka picked his head up and took a step back when he saw Ciel, Sebastian, and the Undertaker watching him. Without a word he turned to go, assuming his presence was unwanted. Ciel was fully prepared to let him go, more concerned about where he was coming from than him potentially walking in on something that had been decided he didn't need to know about. However, it was Undertaker who stopped him, and instead invited him to join in on their unusual early morning meeting.

Ritsuka hesitated near the doorway leading to the back hallway, wary of the abrupt invitation before deciding to stay. At least someone felt the need to include him on this. Ciel continued to ignored his presence, while Sebastian tenderly brushed back some of his bedraggled hair. A soft sigh escaped Ritsuka, and he didn't put forth the effort required to step out of arms reach.

Undertaker paused for a moment, as if he had lost his train of thought before taking up where he had left off. "Someone on the other side had opened a portal. I won't name names, but a spell like this isn't easily preformed. Someone really wanted our little kitten gone."

Ritsuka shied away from Undertaker when he stopped to look at him, a broad smirk plastered across his face. "What's to stop someone from doing this again?"

The Undertaker giggled, before cheekily explaining, "that would be quite impossible because he is dead as a door nail. I did say, a spell like this wasn't easy to do."

Ritsuka frowned at the ground, having no idea why someone would go through so much trouble to get rid of him. He hadn't done anything worth noting back home, and it wasn't like his parents were involved with anything bad.Did something happen after I got sent here? What if there was no place for me to go back to? He nervously bit his bottom lip, is ears flattening to his head as thousands of worst case scenarios ran through his mind. There was nothing he could do while he was stuck here, but he didn't know what was worse: not knowing, or being stuck here feeling so useless.

Ciel waved aside the Undertakers words and started to trudge back to his room. "If you come up with a safer method to accomplish the opposite, feel free to stop by for tea at a less ungodly hour. Sebastian, bring me my tea when it's done." He was barely out of ear shot when the Undertaker frowned and said, "the little earl must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed."'

Sebastian nodded slightly, neither agreeing or disagreeing with his unexpected guest. Ritsuka remained frozen to his spot while Sebastian removed the now boiling water from the kettle, and reached into the cabinet for a box of green tea. "Shall you be staying for breakfast?"

Undertaker shook his head, straightening with a glance at the clock on the wall. "I have some guests waiting for me, I just thought I'd share the good news in person." He looked to Ritsuka then added, "cheer up little one, everything else will work out as it's supposed to."

Ritsuka barely nodded as the Undertaker crept out as silently as he had appeared. Ritsuka son followed, retreating back to his room for a bit of privacy and a moments peace before having to confront what was going on.

Ciel was gazing out of the windows behind the desk when Sebastian brought him his afternoon tea. A small stack of papers remained on his desk, relatively untouched since Ciel had placed them there a few days ago. With some prodding he could have everything squared away in a matter of hours, but with everything that had been going on, he found it hard to concentrate.

At first he pretended not to notice his butler's presence, but for moments after Sebastian had already poured the tea Ciel failed to dismiss him. Sebastian stared at the back of his chair while waiting for his master to address him. He would have rather started lunch preparations and set to work on the cake Ciel had been pestering him about, yet there he stood.

Ciel studied Sebastian in his reflection off the window for quite some time, before finally asking, "just what are you doing with him?"

Sebastian let his arms fall to his sides and played along with Ciel for the time being. "Which him are you referring to?"

Ciel frowned at Sebastian's reflection, and turned with a sigh. For once he had anticipated this sort of reaction from his troublesome butler, but he wasn't much in a joking mood. He had been placed in a delicate situation and he wasn't going to deal with any negative outcome born from his butler's need to cause mischief wherever he went. "I'm talking about Ritsuka. Whatever you are trying to do to him, I demand you stop."

A smiled twitched at the corners of Sebastian's mouth as he realized where Ciel was going with this, but he quickly regained his original composure and calmly responded, "I don't intend to do anything with him."

"Don't play stupid with me Sebastian, it won't work."

"I'm sorry to disappoint, but I am not. The boy simply latched on to me. I cannot do anything about that. If you prefer, you could spend some time with him and maybe he wouldn't feel the need to attach himself to me as he does."

Ciel frowned at the thought, promptly dismissing it. He didn't have to time to aquatint himself with someone who would be leaving as soon as he could make it happen, and he wasn't supposed to have ever met in the first place. Only he wished Sebastian would follow in his footsteps and do the same. There was no way to know how his trip through time was affecting the future, and such a thing wouldn't be noticed until Ritsuka was sent home. Hopefully it was permanent this time. Ciel couldn't even begin to fathom what he or his family must have been involved with for someone to kill themselves just to dispose of Ritsuka in such a way even temporarily. "I don't have time for such nonsense and neither do you. If you put half as much effort into finding a way to get rid of him as you did fraternizing, we might have gotten rid of him already."

"If I was capable of pulling off such a feat, I assure you, I would have already done so. It's been more difficult to find a reasonable solution than I had originally anticipated and even then, there's no sure way to know if it will work."

"It will. It had to Sebastian." Ciel finally picked up a few of the papers and started skimming through one of them, wanting to seem busy when Sebastian left. "If not you'll have to try again until you get it right." Sebastian nodded and bowed, with a compliant, "of course, my lord." Sebastian was as much as a loss for an explanation as Ciel, but he wasn't sure that Ritsuka had been sent here because of something that he had done. The boy was genuinely confused about this predicament, but Sebastian wasn't sure how long something like this could have gone on unnoticed. If he was going to get Ritsuka back home, it would have to be fast and without fuss.

"That will be all Sebastian." Sebastian straightened and tucked the now empty tray under his arm before making a break for the door. After the sturdy wooden divider had clicked back into place, Ciel sighed and tossed his papers aside again in favor of staring out across the garden. He brushed back some of his dark hair and shifted into a more comfortable position in his high-backed chair. There was nothing for him to do now but wait, and hope that everything would work out for the better. He had enough on his plate with having to deal with whatever missions the Queen sent him on without having to worry about deformed children who dropped out of the sky and claimed to have been from the future. There has to be more to this than what he's told us. I just haven't figured out what.


	5. Chapter 5

Ritsuka's prior apprehension for when it came to entering the undertaker's shop had disappeared. Undertaker had proven himself more than helpful in figuring out what was going on. Despite his eccentricity, Ritsuka placed the utmost trust in him.

Sebastian eased the wooden door open, waiting for Sebastian and Ritsuka to enter the dim shop before following them. Several coffins had been removed since their last visit, and a few more jars had been placed on the shelf. Ritsuka's ears flattened against his head as he cast a wary glance at the coffin against the wall, but after straining his ears he couldn't pick up even the faintest sound coming from that direction. A kettle was boiling in the corner of the room, and Undertaker had already lined up several freshly cleaned beakers for his company. An eerie silence spread across the dusty shop as the trio waited for their eager host to make an appearance.

Ciel sighed, and made himself comfortable in the Undertaker's waiting area. Ritsuka soon joined him, looking around the cluttered room without intent. It gave him something to do besides sit there. He kept his tail wrapped around him, lest Undertaker be tempted to grab it again. He was thankful that Sebastian came to stand behind, although he could have done without the overly affectionate butler tousling his hair.

Undertaker finally emerged from his back room, adjusting his crooked hat. "I was wondering when you all would show up."

Ciel rolled his eyes, and shifted into a more comfortable position. Maybe he would have been a bit more receptive if he hadn't been summoned out here just to wait. For once he was actually getting through his work and the piles of homework Sebastian had decided to pile onto him for being 'disagreeable'. With so much to do, he would have preferred if Undertaker had just taken the liberty to drop in on him again. "What's the reason for you dragging us all the way out here?"

"I think you know the answer to that as well as I do." Behind his thick veil of hair, Undertaker's eyes lingered on Ritsuka. A wide smirk spread across his face as he handed him a beaker filled with tea. He offered one to Ciel as well, before filling one for himself and retrieving his bone shaped cookies. Ritsuka politely declined when offered one, thinking they looked more like dog treats than cookies. He took a small sip of his tea before Undertaker continued. "I've almost found a solution to our little problem, just need a little this and that, but there's something else that I should make you aware of."

Ritsuka's eyes darted to the floor and he sipped his gradually cooling tea. He could still feel Undertaker's eyes burning holes into him. Lately everything was just one problem after another. At this point I shouldn't be surprised. Ritsuka anxiously awaiting what the strange man had to say. "There's an issue of time sensitivity. If we can't send him back in time, roughly 48 hours to be precise, you'll have to figure out a more permanent solution for him."

"He'll be stuck here?"

Ritsuka set aside his beaker and folded his hands in his lap, staring intently at his hands. The world around him fell away as he sat there. A sense of dread slowly overcame him, and he struggled to keep his breathing even. Everything fiber of his being protested against the new knowledge. Something would go wrong, he could feel it. At the last possible moment something would rip away what he wanted the most and he'd be stuck in an unfamiliar time and place, unable to discount the whole experience as a fever dream.

"Yes, didn't I just say that?" Undertaker's eyes roamed among the trio, finally coming to a rest on the dismayed Ritsuka. He was trapped in his own stupor, and it would take a lot more than some idle speculation for him to jostle himself back into the here and now. "Of course it shouldn't take nearly as much time to send him back, I need maybe half a day to gather the rest of the components, then he can me on his merry way."

Ritsuka nodded weakly, feeling everyone's eyes on him, but gave up on trying to speak. No words came when he opened his mouth. The rest of the conversation passed in a blur for him, and he only vaguely remembered climbing into the carriage for the long trip home.

Ciel and Sebastian exchanged knowing glances. After realizing Ritsuka wasn't paying any mind to either of them, he told Sebastian, "Keep an eye on him. We can't toss him into the unknown in shock."

Sebastian nodded in agreement, taking a moment to ruffle Ritsuka's hair. Minutes later, he slowly picked his head up, his normally crystalline brown eyes glazed over. Ritsuka finally focused on Sebastian and weakly asked what was wrong. "Nothing you've just gone quite pale. Perhaps you should lie down when we get back."

Ritsuka stared at him for a few moments, then sighed and returned to staring at the carriage floor. Sebastian would have gotten a livelier response from one of his cats. It was going to take a lot more than a nap to quell the storm of emotions raging inside of the young boy.

Even after what felt like hours of sitting under the large tree in the backyard, the beams of sunlight filtering in through the cheerful, green leaves failed to warm me. The world cold didn't seem accurate to describe this sensation spreading through my body, but it was part of it. Cold seemed to be the only thing I could feel right now. Maybe the initial shock still hadn't worn off, but shouldn't I have been happier about this? I was finally going home. The only obstacle that remained was something as worthless as time. For all I knew, Undertaker could have been off in his calculations and the window of opportunity could have already passed. What if I was already stuck here?

Sebastian hovered over me, his shadow blocking out what little sunlight had reached me. With sigh I flipped onto my back and stared up at him. His red-brown eyes met mine, and he crouched over me. "Are you alright?"

I made some sound halfway between a whimper and a sigh. There was no right answer to this, he would have known I was lying, the answer was obvious. The real question was what was wrong. If I didn't even know, how did I expect Sebastian to be able to figure it out? He rested his gloved hand on my forehead then frowned, "You still don't appear to have a fever. Do you feel ill? Perhaps you should consult a doctor when you return home."

I weakly shook my head and let my eyes fall shut again. I didn't need a doctor that much I was certain of. Once this whole thing blew over I would finally be able to breathe easy once again, and not one minute sooner. "Do you think it will work?"

"It doesn't matter what I think. The school of thought has nothing to do with magic. You can do the same thing a hundred different times and still not produce the desired results. Which is why I refuse to bother with such trivial things."

Any hopes of Sebastian coming out to comfort me floated away on the breeze. I should have known better than to expect him to say something comforting, but it felt impossible to not get my hopes up. His hand came to rest on the side of my face, his long fingers just brushing against my neck as he used his thumb to stroke my cheek. Warmth radiated through me, chasing away the cold that had seeped into me. "Whatever happens, happens. Nothing you do or say can change that. It isn't your fault."

"I know but…"

Strands of his hair brushed across my face as he leaned forward, and I opened my eyes to find his own red-brown ones gazing back into my own. A small, ghost of a smile spread across his face when I brushed back some of his hair. I left my fingers buried in his hair and lifted my shoulders a few inches off the ground so I could kiss him. Sebastian trailed kissed along the sides of my face, returning to my mouth several times for measured, chaste kisses. He coaxed me into a sitting position, then I slowly rose to my feet. Sebastian led me into the house, and I sat myself on the counter while he finished preparing the rest of afternoon tea. He left me sitting there with a large slice of strawberry cake and a cup of tea while he went to tend to Ciel. As the tingling in my cheeks subsided from the initial rush of sugar, some of my tension melted away. Sebastian's right, whatever happens happens. There's nothing I can do to change it.

All morning I had been wandering aimlessly around Ciel's large house, unable to sit still for more than a few moments at a time. My stomach was in knots, and my heart started to pound whenever I let myself think about what was about to happen. I was stuck in some weird mixture of excitement and dread. For what felt like the hundredth time this morning, I found myself standing on the front stoop gazing across the horizon. When Undertaker called yesterday, he conveniently forgot to mention a time. Ciel was carrying on with business as usual, and whenever I happened to wander across Sebastian's path, he did his best to try to distract me for a few minutes, whether it was putting away the dishes, or asking me to track down one of his cats (and there were plenty to choose from). As of right now, I think he had given up on trying to keep me busy, and the last time I saw him, he was taking a break in the garden with his black cat. Part of me wanted to go sit with him, but I knew I wouldn't be able to remain still for that long. I'm ready for this to be over.

I bounded down the cement stairs and started wandering towards the back yard again. Standing there for much longer would have only warranted unwanted thoughts of 'what if he doesn't show up' or 'what if it really doesn't work'? It had to work, I couldn't really be stuck here. I had to go home. Sebastian was still crouched under the tree, but his cat was long gone. He had his head tipped towards one side as if he was listening to something.

Afraid of disturbing him, I stopped a few feet behind him and waited. Electricity hummed in the air, and put my fur on end. Maybe he was trying to figure out where the strange sensation was coming from. It wasn't really hot enough for heat lightning, but maybe a storm was brewing. By the feel of it, it was going to be a big one.

Sebastian rose with a sigh and turned to me, "Back so soon?"

I nodded and he fondly stroked one of my ears. Balancing on my toes, I pressed my head against the palm of his hand. This much I would miss. Maybe, I should look for a boyfriend when I get back. Sebastian pulled away and I dropped back to the ground, ready to follow him back to the house. He stood there long enough for me to start getting antsy then locked eyes with me. "He's here."

I turned around, trying in vain to see the front of the house. "How do you know?"

Sebastian didn't bother to explain, and headed for the back door to meet Undertaker half-way. I scampered after him, only to have them intercept me halfway through the western hallway. Ciel had joined them, and together we made our way to the back yard. Sebastian slowed to match my pace. Even with home so close, this made me nervous. All I could think about was Sebastian implying that magic wasn't reliable. I could have gotten sent back to the wrong place, or get dropped further ahead than I was supposed to be. It had to work, this is my only option.

When Undertaker began setting up, I hung back, not wanting to get in the way of anything. Ciel stood off to the side as well, leaving Sebastian and Undertaker to set up the large circle. They talked among each other, and Sebastian caught my eyes several times during the conversation, but nothing in his movements gave an indication to how he was feeling. Unless he just came out with it, I probably wouldn't ever figure it out. Sebastian came over when Undertaker and Ciel cleared out of the circle. Undertaker stood in the center of the smaller circle. He clasped his hands together and the symbols started to glow a florescent blue. The wind picked up, and stripped the leaves off several branches until the portal reached its full glory. From where I stood, I couldn't see the other side, just a swirling vortex of hyper saturated color.

My ears flattened against my head, and my first thought was to back away from the strange source of energy. If Sebastian hadn't ushered me forward, I might have remained cemented to the spot. I don't think I can do this. I don't want to go in that. The air hummed faintly the closer Sebastian pushed me, but he stopped before we were in ear shot of the Undertaker and asked, "Will you wait for me?"

"What are you talking about?" I tipped my head back to get a better look at his shadowed face. Determination sparkled in the depths of his now pink eyes, as he pinned me to his chest, and firmly repeated, "Wait for me."

There's no way. He's not making any sense. I glanced at the wobbling portal and bit my bottom lip, refusing to entertain the thought of staying here. It wouldn't work. I had to go. Promising him I would wait, felt better than saying goodbye, even if was impossible for us to meet again. I nodded weakly, staring down at the swaying grass. "I will. Just don't take too long."

"I wouldn't dream of it." He kissed the top of my head one final time then released me with a well measured shove in the right direction. I took a deep breath and hesitated, before carefully placing one foot in front of the other, and inched closer to the portal. The wind swirled around me, and there was a bright flash of light. Everything around me disappeared. There was no sound, or anything to see. It was as if I had been stripped of all of my senses, then all at once it came back, threatening to overwhelm me.

I stood in the center of my room, a weak light filtering in through the curtains. I could hear a few cars driving by in the distance, and the streetlamp outside my window blinked off. Everything was just at I had left it. My father muse have been getting ready for work, because I could hear someone shuffling around downstairs. The clock on my nightstand reading six o'clock only confirmed my beliefs. While it seemed like only a few hours had passed, there was no way to be certain unless I went down there.

The door to my room creaked as I eased it open, and crept down the stairs. My dad was in the process of pouring coffee into a mug when I peered into the kitchen. Thankfully my mom wasn't in sight, otherwise she would have made a fuss out of me being up so early. I didn't even thing Seimei was awake yet. He started when he spied me standing there and sighed, moving around the room as he finished getting ready for work. "What are you doing up so early?"

I shook my head and stared at the floor. It really has only been a few hours. How is that even possible? "I couldn't sleep."

He ruffled my hair on the way to the door, and paused long enough to put his shoes on, "don't make too much noise, you'll wake your mother." I nodded and waited until the front door had closed before creeping back upstairs. I pressed my back against the door of my room, Sebastian's last words rang in my ears. Wait for me.

Yuiko happily chattered on as we headed for the front gates together. I had long forgotten when she was even talking about, but she seemed happen enough with the occasional smile and nod. She stopped suddenly, staring at the front gates and whispered, "Say, do you know who that is?"

I followed where she was not so discreetly pointing and froze in my tracks. Even with shorter hair and casual clothes I recognized him almost instantly. How…? He smiled coyly at me, and brushed back some of his black hair, patiently waiting for me. "I…I have to go, I'll see you later."

"Wait, tell me who it is!"

I waved her off, already halfway to where he was standing. I stopped just out of reach, slightly out of breath, and hesitant to go to him. It had only been a few hours…but in the same times decades had passed in the blink of an eye. Is it really him? No. It has to be. Sebastian rested his hand on top of my head and stroked one of my ears. The sunlight reflected off his black nails, and I caught a glimpse of some pentagram shaped tattoo. What was he up to all these years? "I hope I didn't take too long."

I shook my head weakly, and Sebastian peered over the top of my head where I figured Yuiko was stubbornly waiting for an explanation. "Your friend is waiting for you."

"You've been waiting longer." He smiled, his eyes turning that strange pink color again. He worked his fingers through my hair, and locked eyes with me. I found myself unable to look away, and inched closer until I could bury my face in his chest. "How did you find me?"

"It wasn't as hard as you would think."

"Magic."

Sebastian shook his head, running his long fingers through my hair. "Something easier than that. I'll tell you…" I gazed up at him again and took a step back, waiting for him to continue. Only he didn't. He stared just past me at Yuiko. "If you take your friend home like you're supposed to."

"Will you come with me?"

Sebastian chuckled, and took his hand off my head. "I suppose I can." I slid my hand into his and rejoined Yuiko, who had a lot more questions than there were stars in the sky. She paid little mind to Sebastian, and directed any questions about him to me, even though he would have been answering many of them himself, especially the ones regarding how we met. I couldn't very well say I got thrown into the past for a few hours. Sebastian squeezed my hand and came to explain, "I saw him taking photos in the park one day."

I glanced back at him, wondering how he had found out about that. From there on Sebastian took charge of answering questions, weaving an almost unbelievable tale of romance. But each answer only seemed to win Yuiko even more. By time she had reached her front door she had gotten his opinion about nearly everything and everything. "Ritsuka, we should all hang out some time. Me, You, Sebastian, and Yayoi!"

Sebastian looked to me for an answer, and shrugged, "Maybe, we aren't really official or anything."

Yuiko pouted, and started taking her shoes off. "Make sure you call me later Ritsuka, this isn't over."

She closed the door back and I turned to Sebastian, bundling myself against his chest. "So, how did you find me."

He hummed thoughtfully, working his fingers through my hair. "I'm a demon."

I rolled my eyes and pulled away from him, leading the way back to my house. "Get real."

Sebastian followed closely behind me, occasionally reaching out to stroke one of my ears. "I am being entirely serious."

He pulled me against his chest and stared down at me, his eyes turning that strange pink color again. I couldn't quite l place what I had seen reflected back, but whatever it was, whether the chill that crept down my spine, or the ominous black cloud that briefly blocked out the sun, I knew there was no way he was human. "Are you afraid?"

"Are you going to take my soul?"

He swiped his thumb across my bottom lip. studying me with a predatory intensity. "I might. But not now." I tilted my head back in anticipation when he moved one of his hands to my neck and pressed my back against my chest. "It still needs time to grow." He ran his thumb along my neck and barely brushed his lips against mine. "Then I'll consider it."

I laced my fingers together behind his neck and pulled him in for another kiss. "You can have it."


End file.
